Run Around the Park for the Parks

As I stated in my last blog, I was flat the week before the Adidas Run for the Parks 4M because of the surgery I had on Monday, and the aquathlon qualifying the next day in which I burned all my calories in a pool of chlorine at Asphalt Green. I planned to have my West Side Highway 6-mile run on Wednesday but I had to cancel it because of the lingering pain on my lower gum line, plus some giant headaches that kept me from sleeping. I still refused to take any painkillers, and I only took two Tylenol 8 hours the whole time! Last year when I broke my arm (Monteggia fracture) I only took half of the painkillers the whole time – the doctors and nurses were impressed.

Enough with the drugs. The 4-mile wasn't on my schedule initially, but after the NYRR moved the Brooklyn Half-Marathon to May 3rd I had to enter a race to bridge the gap in April. As a matter of fact the New York Road Runners really messed up my schedule this year, but everything happened for a reason, right? Ironically, the Run for the Parks was the first race that NYRR seriously implement the corral system so it was a good opportunity for me to test it out. In the past they tried wave starts based on AG time, and they had corral system in place for the NYC Halfs, but nothing compared to the system we had on Sunday. The start used to be dangerous because some slow runners opted to start from the top of the grid and put themselves at risk (I don’t like to run over people and I don't like to weave around them.) Not anymore. Overall the system was pretty successful.

Based on my time from last year's 5k run at Shea, I was assigned to the first corral (corral #0.)

Unlike the NYRR 8000, I headed to the start early this time around. Since it was a heavily sponsored race, I got to check out some tents for goodies, and watched the kids’ races before I walked to the start. It was cute watching some 2-year-olds run 25 feet to the finish line.

When I arrived at the start the mood was a little different. People were more serious in my corral I probably missed some of the fun I used to have previously. Nevertheless, I was there to do my own thing so they didn't bother me, and I didn’t care.

Despite the new system, the start was on time and off we went at 9 am on the East Drive. The start was smooth because people around me were running at similar pace, but I had to squeeze in between two guys as we approached the uphill before the Boat House Curve. Going up a steep hill early wasn't really my thing, but I was able to maintain the speed at 7-minute pace as I tackled the most difficult part of the race.

My pace went down to around 6:30 outside the Met, and the field started to spread out -- the sub-6 runners began to drift away from me, but I was able to maintain my focus and hold the runners behind me. As we entered the Lebow straight, I began to pick up the speed and got my pace down to 6:00.

I wasn’t in perfect shape and I began to look down at the asphalt... I wasn’t sure what I was thinking at the time, I just tried not to do anything drastic – to speed up or slow down. I just wanted to maintain the form and hopefully I could carry myself back to the 72ndTransverse.

We cut across the 102nd Transverse and began to make the return trip on the West Side. There were two rolling hills that we had to tackle but they didn't bother me. And after 86th Street it was pretty much all downhill and I was able to pick up some speed again.

Before we entered the 72nd Transverse we had to deal with the hairpin, and the entry was very tight. Thankfully there were only two people around me at the time and we were able to stay on our racing lines. Though, I didn’t have much left in the final 200 meters, I picked it up a bit to pass those two runners and crossed the final line.

My finish time was 25:34 at 6:23 pace/mile (4th as a member of the New York Flyers -- my first race for them,) and my previous best was 27:41 at the Holiday 4-Mile back in December. A 2:07 PR was pretty good within 4 months, but now I have to go back to long distance races as my next race is the Brooklyn Half on May 3rd.

Stats
Overall Place: 169/5865
NYF Team Place: 4/72
Finish Time: 25:34
Pace/Mile: 6:23 (PR)

1,650 Yards and 33 Laps: The Stars and Stripes Aquathlon Qualifying

My plan to compete in an aquathlon last year shattered when the Manhattan Island Foundation canceled the Freedom Tower Aquathlon in September. It was a good thing though, as I had two surgeries on my left arm back in April and I probably didn't have the arm strength to swim a mile in open water anyway. As a matter of fact, my football injuries affected my running as well since I had no upper body strength for long distance. The Staten Island Half and the NYC Marathon were good examples.

There is only one aquathlon this year from MIF -- the Stars & Stripes Aquathlon on July 13th. It's a 1.5k swim/5k run in the Hudson and at the Hudson/Riverside Parks. As I'm steering my way towards a triathlon, this is a good opportunity for me to get some open water experience and the swim-run transitions. Since I've been a competitive swimmer all my life (only in a pool), the learning curve wouldn't be too great for me.

So what's the big deal Mr. Clorox?

I was unprepared, and I needed to swim a mile in a pool under 45 minutes in order to qualify for the aquathlon. Like I said I'm not a distance swimmer and I had never swam a 1500m before (I'm more like a 100m breastroker) so it was something new to me. Moreover, I wasn't able to access a large pool because the pool at NYSC was more like a hot tub (a 15-yd pool) I had to find out how to approach the qualifying in advance and tried to minimize any anxiety before the big swim.

I returned to Asphalt Green, the place where I used to go to when I lived on the Upper East Side, to get my qualifying done. They have an Olympic size pool (50m) there, but since I'm not a member I could only access the 25-yard as a drop-in. And the drop-in fee... $35!

367 days after my elbow surgeries and 1 day after my gum surgery, I went to AG on April 15th to qualify. With softball starting next week and several NYRR races on the horizon, I just couldn't delay this anymore. I wanted to get this over with.

Both of my arms were still sore from spending way too long in the batting cage and doing infield practice at the park on Saturday, and the discomfort from my gum surgery a day before really didn't help. As a matter of fact, I refused to take any painkillers/controlled substances to minimize the pain, so I had this giant headache after a long day of work and I felt really odd. But then, I was determined to get this over with and nothing could stop me.

Qualifying I could handle, I just hated to deal with all the paperwork and the drop-in fee! I went to AG and the front entrance dude told me about the fee, and I was like "Whatever, just get me in." So he gave me an armband to wear as a non-member and I was like "You're not serious, right?" The truth is, he just messed up my aerodynamics with that thing flopping around but he said, "It's the policy." Fine.

I hadn't been to Asphalt Green for more than 4 years and sure it changed a lot, but one thing didn't change -- the locker room. It was messy with water all over the place and it really smelled like a toilet! Towel service? Forget it. But wait, I just paid $35!

But I didn't care. I just wanted to have the paper signed that was my goal, so I went straight to the lifeguard desk. By the grace of god they had a very nice guard supervisor there and he told me he could witness my qualifying, it was easy! Of course I wasn't there just to qualify, I wanted to swim as fast as I could to evaluate my LD performance. I brought along my Speedo Stars & Stripes cap, my Speed Sockets and my Fastskin Jammers, and I wasn't about to fool around in the pool.

And there I started. The first 6 laps I swam like "normal" -- like sprinting for a 200m, but then it dawned on me that I had to swim 27 laps more… and I promptly forced myself to slow down. I was doing 4 strokes per breathe at first, and I had to switch back to two, in which I wasn't accustomed to do normally.

As the qualifying worn on, my left arm started to hurt because my metal plate in it didn't want to cooperate; my right oblique hurt because I had am oblique injury back in March. The middle of the qualifying was actually the toughest part but I was able to go through that.

And all of the sudden a dude wanted to share my lane and asked me if I we could do circles. There were only 2 people on the lane just get in and stop asking questions you amateur! I finally yelled at him as I was finishing my lap "I can’t stop, I'm qualifying here!" That actually woke me up as I began to finish the final 5 laps for the 1,650-yard swim.

Unofficially my time was about 35 minutes -- still a little off in an aquathlon standard but I had to make 65 turns and to deal with people on the lane. I went to Patrick the Lifeguard and he provided me everything I needed, then I asked him if he really checked my time and he said he had been checking from the chair. Congratulations Patrick, you did your job!

And I bumped into Ohio State alum and swimmer Dan Sullivan. He was playing with his water polo team at Asphalt Green and we got to do some chit chat before I walked out of the pool. Congrats on the new born Sully!

With no towel service, I had to trek back to NYSC to get a shower. Overall it was a cool and unique experience, and I look forward to swimming in the Hudson on July 13th. And don’t you worry I refuse to swim in the East River! Time to get back to the land and have my training run before Sunday's adidas Run for the Parks 4M.